on and hated excluding him from this, but it was in his best interest. How did you explain that to an eight-year-old?
“I think the first time Ryan comes over, it should be just me and him. I want to make sure that I like him and he likes me before he spends time with you.”
“It’s Ryan? But we already like each other. I should be there,” Matson said through a yawn.
“I’ll think about it,” I said seriously, and he smiled.
“Thanks, Mama. I won’t ruin your date.” He snuggled deeper into his covers and turned his back to me.
“Oh, baby, you could never ruin anything. It’s not about that.” I kissed his cheek before standing up. “I love you.”
“Love you too, Mama. ’Night.”
“Good night.”
• • •
The next day, Ryan and I fell into a routine of texting throughout the afternoon and ending each night together on the phone.
Grant had even called to make sure that everything was okay, and after reassuring him, the teasing texts began rolling in. He informed me that it wasn’t cool of me to choose Ryan over him, and that he knew I only did it because I wasn’t into older men. He let me know that once I grew bored with Ryan, he’d still give me another chance . . . if he was available. Grant warned me that a guy like him was a catch and wouldn’t stay on the market long, but I knew he was full of it. Grant only had eyes for one woman, and that woman no longer walked this earth with him.
Each night once Matson was in bed, I found myself pressing my cell phone against my ear and being put on hold every few minutes while Ryan served a customer. Since he didn’t have a normal work schedule, I was a little concerned about how the logistics of dating him could possibly work. Being a single mom meant I had priorities that other girls my age didn’t have. I couldn’t go out every night of the week, and Ryan couldn’t come home to Matson and me after a rough day at the office for a sit-down dinner.
Trying to set up an actual date with him was harder than it should have been. He only had one night off during the week, and it was a school night. He suggested that we have lunch instead on the weekend, but for some reason that seemed less like a first date, in my opinion, and he confessed that he felt the same.
As much as I hated messing up Matson’s school schedule, I opted for Thursday night for our first date, and planned to send Matson to my mom’s. When Matson informed me that he was okay with it all “since it’s Ryan,” relief filled my body.
“How do your brothers do it?” I asked Ryan Wednesday night while lounging on my sofa, snuggled into a soft throw, my phone hot against my cheek.
“Do what?” His voice boomed through the phone as music played in the background.
“Keep their girlfriends happy when they’re never home? It’s not like you guys have normal business hours. Do they ever even see each other?”
He laughed. “The girls are here a lot.”
My life revolved around Matson. I couldn’t have it revolve around a bar scene. “I can’t do that, though.”
“I know.”
“So if the girls aren’t at the bar, then what?”
“We each have one night off during the week. But, Sofia, it’s our choice how often and long we want to work, you know?”
“No, I don’t know. What do you mean?” I kicked the throw off my feet and wrapped it around my legs instead.
“We’re all here because we want to be right now, but we don’t have to be. We could give our other bartenders more hours, and we’ve talked about it before. Scaling back. I know that once Frank and Claudia start a family, there’s no way Frank will want to be here as much as he is now. And he won’t have to be. I don’t have to be here either. I’ve just never had a reason to cut back before.”
I smiled to myself, biting on my bottom lip before releasing a small sigh of relief.
“Sofia?” Ryan’s voice cut through the silence.
“I’m here.”
“Did I scare you off?”
“The opposite, actually,” I admitted, still grinning. I’d assumed, wrongfully again, that Ryan would never leave the bar. That he would always close it down on weekends, and be there as much as possible. The Fisher brothers were the face of Sam’s bar, and I assumed they would never walk away from the publicity and marketing they brought to it.
“You want me even more now?” he asked with a laugh.